If it wasn’t enough of a challenge organising 70 people going to one destination at the one time, most doing different things along the way, and also putting together a tour itinerary for some of them, then being on the tour was. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime, sent to be travel coordinator for a group of 46 ‘crane related’ people travelling from Monaco to Munich visiting crane factories along the way. I won’t go into details of the tour itself, more the places we visited and the hotels we stayed at and my experiences.

I flew with Cathay, Melbourne to Hong Kong in their newer business class and then Hong Kong to Frankfurt in their older one. They were both fantastic, fully flat bed, the older one seemed to have more luggage storage for easy access, and I found the new business class more private as I faced in to the window rather than out to the aisle. It is interesting that in business class they still come down the aisle with the food on a trolley rather than on a tray like other business classes, but it is certainly not like the trolleys you experience in economy. The food was really good, an Asian feel but not over the top. Arriving into Frankfurt it was a bit of an effort to get over to the Lufthansa area and onto my next flight, but thanks to watching too many movies on the Cathay flights I slept well on the flight to Nice. From there it was an hour plus by car in traffic to Monaco. It’s a nice drive, but by the time you get there you just want to get into your room. I had a number of participants with me so they checked in first and I waited in the lobby for my room to become available, greeting other participants as they arrived.

The Fairmont Monte Carlo is a large hotel on the water with the F1 track right out front, and rooms with views to ‘the corner’ which I only learnt about once I was there. Stand at the entrance of the building and you will see a row of expensive cars including Bentley’s, Jaguar’s, Ferrari’s, and a Mini to make you laugh at the scene in front of you. Walk up some stairs and you are at the most famous casino in the world, and surrounded by more expensive cars. I learnt that there is something like 35000 citizens of Monaco and about 8000 Ferraris registered so you don’t see many ‘normal’ cars here. I spent the next day touring around the towns of the region, seeing the famous theatre in Cannes, along the coast of Nice and up into the mountain villages of St Paul de Vence and St Andre de la Roche. I much preferred the charm of the mountain villages than the pretentiousness of the coastal towns. That being said seeing the cars, yachts and glamour is a sight to behold and I’m glad I have seen it now.

From Monaco we headed to Torino in Italy, a small industrial city with a typical Italian feel and appeal. We stayed at the Golden Palace here, and boy was it a confusing, it seems to be two old buildings somehow made into one to house all of their rooms. The rooms were lovely, but small as expected for an inner city hotel, mine overlooked a courtyard and back over to the main lobby and restaurant area. I had to have a pasta, I was back in Italy after all, and it didn’t disappoint…

From here we travelled to the town of Como on Lake Como. One of the highlights of the trip for me, I enjoyed another pasta for lunch before we walked around the city and up the cable car for a great, albeit foggy, view over Como and the lake. I had arranged dinner at Grand Hotel Tremezzo for some of the participants and was offered a trip in an original speedboat with a tour of the lake on the way. I found my future home, owned by George Clooney, and where my future friends holiday – the Versace’s and Richard Branson. The Grand Hotel Tremezzo itself is one of only three 5 star hotels on the lake and it is spectacular, situated next to Villa Condotti with its famous gardens, it has views over the water to Bellagio. The lovely Elena took me to see some of the rooms, including the suites with Jacuzzi’s on the balcony with the same view. I’m already trying to work out when I can get back to stay there. The rates in rooms aren’t as ridiculous as you’d think, and they are worth it for the experience, view, food and service. We stayed at Metropole Suisse in Como, and although its location was fantastic, across the road from the lake and close to the train station and on the edge of town, it was in desperate need of a refurb. The reception area was nice enough, but the bar and rooms all needed some basic updates. Comparing these two in quality and price I couldn’t imagine not spending a small amount more and staying at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo.

And then we were off again driving through Switzerland and Liechtenstein (although we only found out we were in Liechtenstein as we were leaving) into Austria and the small town of Bludenz, this is in a ski area surrounded by mountains. The Hotel Val Blu was a modern hotel, and quite querky. The most common comment I heard was that it felt like Ikea, and that’s a bit true. But it had fantastic gym facilities and a good bar with snacks, the staff were nice, although I’m not sure they realised how busy 40 odd Australians could make their bar.

We then crossed the border into Germany and into the town of Straubing where we stayed at the Hotel Asam in the centre of town. I was impressed with this hotel, it was modern but not over the top after Val Blu, they had taken the old world charm of the building and made it comfortable, but not quaint either. The restaurant and bar were fantastic, although they did get a few of their bourbons and whiskeys (not mine!) confused. I’m not sure why you would be travelling to Straubing, but if you do I’d highly recommend this hotel.

From here it was to Ulm not far from Munich, a town famous for its Cathedral. There’s a bit of contention over whether people liked this hotel, it wasn’t in the centre of town, so you couldn’t just walk out the door to the shops or the cathedral, but there was a tram stop out front from that it took 10 minutes to get you to town and cost €2 if you chose to pay (although I believe it’s meant to be required). The hotel itself was located on a small lake/dam so made for a beautiful outlook from the lobby, bar and restaurant as well as many of the rooms. The rooms were spacious, and I really enjoyed waking up to sunrise over the ‘lake’. The restaurant didn’t seem to know how to handle larger groups, trying to force participants onto a set/limited menu, so many made the journey into the city, and others chose to stay in the bar and enjoy the menu there. This is a great town if you want to be in the Munich area but not in the thick of it and see some of the surrounding areas. Personally I really liked the hotel, but not everyone likes the same things.

Before we ended the trip we took a side trip from Ulm to the Black Forest staying in a town called Freiburg. The drive through the Black Forest was nice, we stopped in a small town that was rather touristy, and then headed to our hotel in Freiburg. I could spend a long time complaining about this hotel, but I’ll put it simply. The hotel was meant to be on the edge of the main part of Freiburg, instead it was located in an area 20+ minutes away from real Freiburg also known as Freiburg. I met a local friend here and he said he didn’t even know that the area was Freiburg. So the confusion is understandable, unfortunately the hotel doesn’t quite explain any of this on the website. The hotel itself was nice enough, they were really not prepared for the rapid influx at their bar, which lead to issues and rudeness from staff, and some of their rooms left a lot to be desired, mine was nice enough and had doors out to the garden, unlocking the front door was difficult and I had to get help a couple of times. Their beer garden and restaurant were well situated and when the sun was out it was nice to sit back with a stein or similar. They had refurbished their lobby which did mislead you as to the quality of their property overall. So sadly not one I’d recommend in future.

The next day it was off to visit the Mercedes Benz and Porsche Museum. For a non-car lover this was still an enjoyable experience, learning a lot about the history of the automotive industry. From here we headed to Augsburg on the outskirts of Munich, a cute town undergoing a massive restoration so I’d suggest going back here in 6-12 months once the work is done. Here we stayed at the Dorint hotel, a great business hotel near the train station and not a long walk from town (or a short cab ride). I was impressed with the shopping in both Munich and Augsburg. But maybe by this stage I just needed some retail therapy.

My final day was spent at BAUMA, a massive convention held every three years in Munich. It’s a trade fair for construction machinery, but that seems like too simple of an explanation. In the 5 days it ran there were over 530,000 visitors from over 200 countries looking at 3420 exhibitors. Let’s be honest, I spent most of my time here staring at machines that made little or no sense to me and getting lost trying to find some of the brands/people I did know. It was definitely an experience, and the boys in Lederhosen gave me a laugh.

I’d like to finish by thanking all the participants on the tour for their support as I undertook this new adventure, CICA for the opportunity to come along, and the crane manufacturers that were hospitable to the tour group and myself – Manitowoc, Liebherr, Sennebogen and those represented by participants on the tour.

Europe Challenge